HANAH VAN BOREK
COMMUNCIATIONS SPECIALIST
Sepsis Awareness Month is an opportunity to recognize the ongoing efforts towards better treatment of Sepsis and how the CST project is helping bring early detection to our acute care sites to improve patient safety.
Sepsis occurs as an extreme reaction to infection. This life-threatening condition arises when the body’s response to an infection injures its own tissues and organs. From the Canadian Sepsis Foundation: “According to recent estimates, one in eighteen deaths in Canada involves sepsis, making it the twelfth leading cause of death nationally. Globally, sepsis affects an estimated 18 million people each year.”
CST Cerner Sepsis tool supports during the “golden hour”
The “golden hour” is a critical period, in advance of test results, when any delay in treatment incurs a higher risk of complications. Medical staff and other providers using CST Cerner can now leverage the inbuilt Sepsis Advisor tool to prescribe the most effective treatment during this critical time. This means avoiding higher risks of complications for patients with sepsis and/or septic shock. Coupled with the Sepsis alert, designed to detect situations that require early intervention for patients at risk, this is a powerful tool at the disposal of staff using CST Cerner in urgent care settings.
“As clinicians, we’re supposed to understand a lot of conditions that we take care of, but we’re all so busy. For a nurse who is on a surgical floor taking care of seven patients, the alerts are like an extra pair of eyes to help watch over our patients,” says Christine Jerrett, an RN and Director of Clinical Informatics CST and Informatics lead for Sepsis. “It’s not to take away clinical judgment; it’s to help support it.”
Acute care medical staff and nurses at sites already live with CST Cerner gained access to this important tool earlier this year and others, across VCH, PHC and PHSA, can look forward to accessing this tool when their site roles out CST Cerner. CST Cerner is currently being rolled out across more than 40 facilities across VCH, PHSA and PHC. Learn more: cstproject.ca
